Gauntlets of Wrath

An Unusual Beginning

I woke up. 'Ugh, another day.' I thought to myself. I looked around and I was in my bedroom. Single bed, blue wallpaper slightly covered with posters, white borders, fluffy white pillows, blue sheets and blankets, a desk at the left side, a drawer and lamp at the right, closet at the far-left side of the room, a big window at the front of the bed, a door at the far right of the room is a mirror at the right wall. I took a look at the posters of my favorite bands and singers. You have your hard rock icons like Axl Rose, Ozzy Ozbourne, and James Hetfield. Then you have your mainstream stars like Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, and so on.

I got up and took a look at the mirror. I'm fifteen, finally. At least I'm tall, well, 5'8, at least. I had jet black hair with a little spiky sideswipe style haircut, yellowish-brown skin, and amber-like eyes. I still had my tan, which did not go well with my slightly chinky eyes. I was wearing a black V-neck shirt with grey boxers. I tried to stretch my arms, but suddenly I got this feeling. Like something's tugging my gut. It's like it's telling me to turn around, so I did. When I looked around, I saw a guitar leaning beside the bed. I walked up to it and examined the instrument. It has the same feel of a guitar with a sling strap at the back of it, but at the same time, it doesn't. The neck is like an acoustic. Huh, normal enough. The tuners are different though. It looked like carved bone: it felt like it, too. How I knew, I don't know. I looked down, and I saw a little, white, triangle-shaped chip. Just the pick, I thought. Is it my birthday? No, my birthday was two days ago. Maybe a belated present? These thoughts spun inside my head and just when I was about to pluck a tune, mom shouted from downstairs. 

"JEROME, GET UP!! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY IN SCHOOL, YOU HEAR?!!" Oh right, it's 6 o'clock, on a Monday.

Well, I better prepare. I told myself. So, I grabbed a towel, brushed my teeth, took a bath, and got dressed in jeans, sneakers, a black t-shirt with a big skull adorned with roses on its forehead with the words 'Grateful Dead', and a black hoodie. I took what looks like my school bag, brought the guitar, shoved the pick in my pocket, and went down.

As I got a towel and knocked on the bathroom door, my older sister Jennifer poked her head out and swung the door open. She was wearing a pink bathrobe and a purple towel on her hair. It's hard to tell that we're siblings. She got our dad's looks, and I got Mom's. She had the same amber eyes as me, but she looked completely American, especially with the blonde hair, the supermodel physique, and the complexion of a snowman. She looked at me with disgust, like I was the garbage she forgot to throw out a week ago. You know, as usual. 

"You smell like Cheetos." She said.

I gave her a sarcastic smile. "Good morning to you too, sis. Do you mind getting out? Or are you still shaving those Christmas trees that you call your legs?"

Jeniffer spreads her left hand and blows air onto her red nails. "Perfection takes time, Jerome. Not like you would understand, peasant." She said as she shakes her hand around to dry whatever shade of red she just painted on her.

Out of impatience, I shouldered through and started removing my pants. When she turned around, she screamed and immediately covered her eyes as she ran out. I chuckle to myself as I shut the door. "Works every time."

After a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes, I went down and saw a plate of scrambled eggs, some mashed potatoes, and orange juice waiting for me at the dining table. I took a seat and started eating. I noticed that blondie was also there, in a white, knee-length gossamer dress, beige strapped high-heels, and a gold headband. Like every girl you might see on Instagram, she had her phone on a selfie stick, posing and taking pictures instead of eating.

I sat right beside her and ate in silence as she continued her own version of Jersey Shore. Peace and quiet, I thought to myself before she placed down her phone, grabbed my guitar, and smashed it against the wall. But once the guitar hit the wall, a wailing sound came out of it, like a chorus of screams just blasted through the sound hole. Somehow, I got up in shock, but I didn't hear a single crash or the sound of guitar strings snapping in two. 'Taylor Swift' over there wasn't all that lucky. She dropped the guitar, fell down, and clutched her ears, but it was useless. After 3 long seconds, the sound was gone. I walked towards my guitar and checked for some damage. None. She gets up, just in time for mom to show up in her usual black and white business suit with black pumps. 

"My God, I cannot deal with this right now. WHAT HAPPENED?!" She looked like a 30 something-year-old, female version of me, except for her piercing brown eyes and flowing black hair.

 I immediately ate the bacon hanging from my mouth and cleared my throat. "She smashed my guitar into the wall." 

"Jennifer!!" she turned towards the blondie. 

"He started it! Jerome barged into the bathroom and started undressing!" she said. 

I rolled my eyes. "All because you wouldn't let me take a bath when you were already done. Oh, that reminds me. Alexa, play Jennifer's playlist on Spotify." Jeniffer's look of anger switches to panic.

 Alexa responds. "Sure thing." 

WAP by Cardi B and Megan Three Stallion starts playing on the speakers. Mom had that same look of disgust Jennifer gave me when she heard the lyrics. Jennifer growled. "I swear you-" "We'll talk about this later. Now hurry up, or we're gonna be late for school." I said while slinging my bag and my guitar across my shoulders and started walking out of the house.